LITTLE DEATH (no distrib): Jack Begert’s first feature (co-written with Dani Goffstein) is a diptych about Los Angeles, put together in sharply contrasting ways. The first half is about sitcom writer Martin (David Schwimmer) as he hustles to get his first film as writer/director greenlit, while coping with his splintering marriage to Jessica (Jena Malone), and fantasizing about his dream woman (Angela Sarafyan). This section is laced with name actors and deliberately loaded with visual gimmicks. When a producer suggests that Martin change his main character to a woman, he literally becomes “Martin 2.0” (Gaby Hoffman) on screen. There’s also animation, and frenzied montages that serve as a reminder that Darren Aronofsky, the man behind Requiem For a Dream, is one of the producers. (Begert himself has a music video background.) Eventually, Martin’s life intersects with Karla (Talia Ryder, from Never Rarely Sometimes Always) and AJ (Dominic Fike). From that point on, we follow their story, which has the loose, gritty feel of a 1970s indie. They’re trying to recover a stolen car and its contents (including a batch of pills), with the help of some shady guys from LA’s underbelly. While less formally interesting than the Martin portion, this is the part of Little Death that works emotionally, giving its characters room to exist rather than forcing them into high-concept filmmaking. Even at its best, Little Death doesn’t have a lot of scope–it’s far from the first time we’ve seen cynical, neurotic players in the entertainment biz, or young people struggling to get by on the fringes. Begert knows how to hold a viewer’s attention, though, and if the first half demonstrates his flashy bona fides, the second shows an ability to build suspense and character. Little Death is indeed little, but it has signs of life.
GOOD ONE (no distrib): The feature debut by India Donaldson constantly feels like it’s on the verge of becoming a thriller, but that’s not its aim. The model is less Deliverance than Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy. As in that film, the action concerns a pair of old friends, Chris and Matt (James Le Gros and Danny McCarthy) undertaking a lengthy hike, in this case for 3 days in upstate New York. The difference here is that they’re accompanied by Chris’s teenage daughter Sam (Lily Collias)–Matt’s son is a last-minute cancellation, probably because his parents are in the midst of a divorce–and it’s through her view that we see the story. Sam is clear-eyed and observant of the petty (and eventually not so petty) flaws of the older men. Her father is a perfectionist who prefers to blame others, while Matt, a once-successful actor who ruined his own post-performing career, is pathetic. One might expect the friends’ old grudges to emerge and explode, but that doesn’t happen. Similarly, the local wildlife stays under control, no one gets lost, and when our trio encounter three younger men who are also doing the hike, nothing dramatic ensues. Donaldson is interested in the details of how the men interact with each other, and especially in the ways they regard and treat the young woman in their midst. The truth is that Good One probably wouldn’t leave much of a lasting impression if not for the fine performances, especially from Collias, who was exceptional in the little-seen Palm Trees and Power Lines, and is a superb vehicle of watchfulness here, able to convey a complex mix of emotions with little or no dialogue. Even when it seems like nothing much is going on, she and her character hold our attention along the entire trail.
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